I’m positive we haven’t seen the worst of negative ads

There’s been no lack of negative advertising in Colorado politics this campaign season, with Republican Jane Norton’s campaign publicly criticizing ads that hit her and, yesterday, the campaign manager for Michael Bennet sending an email to supporters doing the same, while appealing for money at the same time.

In the blast, entitled ‘Enough is Enough,’ Craig Hughes pointed out:

Andrew says he is “not running to trash anybody,” but his actions don’t match those words. His attacks on Michael have been deceptive and irresponsible — and unfortunately, are just more politics as usual.

Speaker Romanoff is a professional politician, and he’s operated his campaign using the tried and true negative playbook of a veteran political insider. So far they’ve released five negative web videos that question Michael’s integrity, dozens and dozens of blast e-mails full of half-truths and direct character assaults, as well as negative campaign literature dropped on door steps around Colorado.

Of course, the circular firing squads of primary season are likely nothing compared to what we’re going to see when the partisan snipers take aim at the opposition in advance of the general election.

David D. Perlmutter, director of the journalism school at the University of Iowa and an expert on political communication, sums it up: “Negative is the new normal.”

He compares the evolution of attack ads with movie audiences who have come to expect more exciting action sequences and better special effects each time they walk into the theater.

“Last year’s level of negativity is almost not enough,” he said. “It’s almost like you have to raise it up a notch each time.”

The effectiveness of the ads depends on the attack, Perlmutter said. A claim that is plausible and at least based in truth is more likely to get traction. And at a time when many voters are angry at the government, outsiders are logically going hard after the records of incumbents and established politicians.

With that, I thought it would interesting to put together a list of the ‘Dirtiest Colorado campaign ads of all time.’

Here’s my first nominee. Use the comment button with this post to share yours:

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.